Day 2: Fundrasing School, Pier 39, & Chinatown

The day started with a 8:00 registration for the fundraising school. We had a continental breakfast which was all the food they were/are providing. I learned alot today about tax and planned giving terminology, learned good things to share with my ambassadors and others interested in planned giving for the library. I learned a simple way to help discover a number of potentially unknown planned gifts, and much more. Honestly I am learning alot in this class and the instructors are awesome. I truthfully wasn't sleepy at all during the session. During Day 1 at my table was Courtney(Texas), Denise(Colorado), Leslie (San Luis Obispo, CA), & John (CA).

For our lunch break Courtney, Denise, Newell (IN), and I went to Swiss Louis Italian & Seafood Restaurant on Pier 39. It was good however our server was having serious issues separating our checks (bless her heart). You can see some of the pictures from our view at lunchtime of Alcatraz, seals, and the city...

Okay and so no nap, but hey... I called more Clemson Alumni...got to talk to a really nice mother and left a few messages... we will see what happens.

For dinner Denise suggested that we go to Chinatown... so we talked with the concierge, got ideas and were on our way. We first said we were going to take a taxi but it was so nice out that we simply walked. We had a glass of wine at IDEALe Ristorante Bar. Then were off to Chinatown to enjoy dinner at House of Nanking. At House of Nanking the waiter asked if it was our first time dining and when we responded no (however it was Denise's 2nd time) he took our menus and said... trust me... and walked off (which Denise warned us he would do). It was great we had a little of a lot of things and we enjoyed them thoroughly. Well that was it for day 2... come back tomorrow for Day 3...

Pictures below are taken from today...







Here is Coit Tower which I thought it only appropriate to include since I am here at a planned giving conference...The following is from http://gocalifornia.about.com/od/casfmenu/a/coittower.htm

Built to fulfill the bequest of Lillie Hitchcock Coit, who left funds to be used to beautify the city she loved, Coit Tower is an icon on the San Francisco skyline, a simple tower crowning Telegraph Hill overlooking the San Francisco waterfront.
Coit Tower visitors come here mostly for the views: sweeping waterfront vistas from the parking lot and observation deck, and for cityscapes best seen from the small park behind the tower.

Not to be missed are the murals decorating the lobby, considered to be one of California's best examples of depression-era public art. Part of a Public Works of Art Project, they were painted in 1934 by 25 artists. Done in Diego Rivera's social realism style, they are sympathetic portrayals of the daily life of working class Californians during the depression.

Because some people felt the murals were subversive and depicted "Communist" themes, the authorities delayed the opening of Coit Tower for several months. Already outraged by the shooting deaths of two strikers during the Longshoremen's Strike of 1934, the working community was upset even further by this delay, adding to the general distrust of authority.

The lobby murals continue behind a door next to the gift shop, up the stairs and around the second floor. This area is closed to the general public, except during free guided Coit Tower tours given by City Guides.

You'll often hear tour guides and others claiming that Coit Tower is supposed to look like the nozzle of a fire hose, but designers Arthur Brown Jr. and Henry Howard always denied it, and in fact, it looks more like the towers at London's Battersea Power Station, completed one year earlier.

Despite the fact that Coit Tower has an elevator, it is not wheelchair accessible because of the steps at its base and a short staircase between the elevator landing and the observation level.